


the tender tinder box

by phwaa



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 03:42:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21246905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phwaa/pseuds/phwaa
Summary: The fire burns for hours before starting to slowly smolder.Penelope finds her between the burning bark with fire balling between her fingers.





	the tender tinder box

THE TENDER TINDER BOX 

You've made the air flammable. These walls are just paper. And blood is gasoline. You shouldn't have come here, made of fireworks, if you didn't want me to play with fire. I need a light. 

(i wrote this for you; pleasefindthis) 

The fire burns for hours before starting to slowly smolder. 

Penelope finds her between the burning bark with fire balling between her fingers. 

"Jojo," she whispers, looking around at the destruction. "What have you done?" 

With black eyes and a voice so low it's barely recognizable, Josie smirks and raises an eyebrow. "Well, look who's come running back." 

Penelope forces down her instinct to scoff and deny, pulling her eyes away from the dark and slowly looking around at the mess Josie has made. The forest is still slightly aflame, the school is clearly visible through the flattened clearing and fast falling ash. Penelope wonders if everyone is safe. 

She puts on a brave face, tilts her head and turns back to the girl in front. "I wasn't gone that long." She says, trying for a smirk that wavers on worried. "But I love what you've done with the place." 

The fire in Josie's hands spins, spins, spins and grows with every blink. This isn't the girl she left six months ago, timid and alone with tears tripping to the floor. This isn't a girl Penelope has ever met before, she doesn't know how to save this one. She attempts a step forward but halts after Josie breathes fast and furious. 

"Don't," she says, sounding more Josie than before. Staggered and scared, suddenly shaking her head and moving forward. "Penelope-" 

The ball of fire spits and Josie isn't hesitant anymore. Her smile is nasty and cool, her feet have a purpose and Penelope can't seem to move as she gets closer and closer. She can feel the heat from Josie's hands, the cold from her body. It almost feels like home. 

A twig snaps somewhere in the distance. Voices stream from nowhere and a chant echoes across the trees still standing. It's sudden. Josie drops and shakes along the dead forest floor. Her eyes closed and palms smoking and empty. 

Between the black and ash, Hope and Lizzie appear in unison. Hands still clasped and glowing. 

"Great," Lizzie spits, ignoring the body on the floor to scowl across at Penelope. "Of course fire attracts the devil." 

\-- 

Alaric picks her up and carries her home. They fall in sync and watch as Josie is lowered onto the sofa in the headmaster's office. He stays long enough to watch her breathe slow and steady before running off, talking of books and herbs and cures. 

Lizzie wastes no time to interrogate, swinging on her heels to face Penelope as soon as the doors close. "What are you doing here?" 

"I'm here to help." Penelope stands taller, squares her shoulders and prepares for the wrath of Lizzie Saltzman. 

"We don't need your help." Lizzie spits, scowling from Penelope to Josie and back again. Somewhere in the middle Hope sits and watches. "We have this all under control." 

Penelope can't help the snort that comes out, can feel the smile growing on her face and feels the rush of joy from the feeling of being right. "Oh sure," she nods towards the windows at the far end of the office. Somewhere in the distance the student body are still trying to extinguish the fire before it reaches the school. "And I imagine watching Josie burn down half the forest was intentional." 

For a moment, Lizzie is speechless. Her face heats pink with anger. 

From a small chair at the center of the room, Hope shuffles and says, "maybe we could use the help," before Lizzie's head is whipping around and shaking vehemently. 

It looks like they're making facial expressions at each other before Lizzie turns back. She's having another internal tantrum, lip trembling and eyebrows curving in and out of frustration. "The only thing you can do to help is to go back to the hell hole you were born in and die." 

"Lizzie." Hope scolds. 

"Fine." Lizzie rolls her eyes, tries for a smile instead. It looks pained and seconds away from dropping. "Just leave forever then." 

Penelope would rather relinquish her powers than help Lizzie, but Josie is curling into the cushions below and her cheeks look warm now that the cold isn't coursing through her veins. Penelope couldn't leave her again even if she wanted to. Not without trying to fix her first. 

"Sorry," she says, dragging her eyes away from Josie. "You're stuck with me. At least until we figure out what's happening to her." 

The growl that grumbles out of Lizzie's lips is short lived. Alaric slides the doors open carrying as many books as his arms can manage. He drops them onto the floor and gestures for everyone to take some. 

Before Penelope can grab a book and leave, there's movement on the sofa and Josie is crowded in seconds. 

"I don't-" she says, words dry and desperate. Penelope feels her whole body relax, the tension taken away with the soft sounds of her voice. "What's going on? What did I do?" It doesn't take long for her to really understand, the realization sets in fast and Josie's eyes bulge in horror. 

Lizzie is kneeling beside the cushions, her fingers brushing the hair from Josie's forehead. "You were a bit dramatic." She says, watching Alaric send across a warning glare. "I thought you were going to burn the school down." 

With watery eyes and a crumbling face, Josie starts to look around the room and only then stops at Penelope. Her face is unreadable, mouth opening only slightly before a sob escapes. "I didn't-" With words, her demeanor tumbles. Alaric is pulling her against him on the sofa, cradling her head and squeezing her waist. "I didn't mean to." 

"I know, darling" he coos, "we know, we know." 

Lizzie at least has the decency to look guilty. "I didn't mean it in a bad way." She sounds annoyed and Penelope wonders what comfort she plans to offer when she tries to curve into the hug with a face of thunder. 

"Get this out of me, Dad." Josie sounds like she's broken, words wet and whispered into Alaric's shoulder. "Please make this stop." 

Penelope doesn't realize she's standing in the middle of the room alone until she turns and sees Hope by the door. She's watching with an empty expression, books in both hands and eyes glazed over. Suddenly she feels as if she's intruding on an important family moment, and Penelope steps back until she can find some books of her own and heads to the door. 

Hope waits, slides the doors closed behind the muffled crying and times her steps to walk beside Penelope. 

"Here I was thinking the school would be without drama after you left." She says, offhandedly. As if it's normal to make small talk with each other. From the corner of her eye, she can see Hope trying to smile at her. It looks almost genuine and Penelope tries not to reel back. 

Penelope stops and watches how Hope halts a step in front. "What do you want, Mikaelson?" 

Hope shrugs, still looking innocent and open. "Nothing, I'm just...I'm glad you're back. We could use someone else that knows Josie well." 

For a moment, Penelope stands confused. It was a rare occurrence to have anyone acknowledge her relationship with Josie as anything but damaging, rarer so to admit Penelope may have a small understanding of the girl. She doesn't manage to reply before Landon swoops in, wrapping his arms around Hope's waist and putting on a vile show of affection. 

"Hey," he says, grin big and eyes bouncing across at Penelope. It's odd, having people talk to her as if she won't launch an attack. It's not a feeling she's comfortable with or wants to encourage. 

Penelope leaves before she says something really mean. 

\--

She forgets to sleep. 

Tossing around on the makeshift bed in the room built for guests, Penelope wonders if Josie is sleeping. 

She sees fists of fire and dark eyes lost to the world. Bark burnt to crisp and ash leading the way back home. 

Penelope puts it down to jet-lag. 

\--

She downs four cups of coffee before she can bring herself to move. 

Penelope finds MG in the library, cheek pressed to crumpled pages and eyes starting to drift. 

She throws her books down from unnecessary height and smiles at MG's unsuccessful attempts to save his squeal. "Shit," he coughs, styling out his shock. "If it isn't Penelope Park."

"MG." She sits, setting out her books. "Still flunking class, I see." 

"Still a bitch, I see." It's daring, and by the way he squirms under Penelope's stare, she thinks he's regretting it. "Joking." 

"You were the one that called me back, MG. I half think it's because you missed me." 

He doesn't reply at first, watches her tap nails against each book before deciding to open the first. Books on possession and dark magic and the ancestry of witches. All thrilling reads.

MG is clearly thinking the same, humming to himself and saying, "guessing they're not for casual reading?" 

"Guessing correctly." Penelope looks up, ignoring the stares from the other kids in the library. She has no doubt that the rumor mill is turning, trembling, trying to figure out if Penelope is the cause of the fire or just born from it. "Tell me how it started."

He shrugs. MG was never going to be the best source for information, but he was the one that called her and thought she might like to know Josie was off the rails, so he'll be more willing to share than others.

"Don't know what to tell you, Peez. She just started being snarky one day, mean the next and before you know it she's trying to burn down the school." MG looks around, like the answers will somehow fly off the shelves and into his tiny, resurrected brain. "I mean it obviously wasn't that sudden." 

Penelope feels regret balling in her stomach, she should've stayed. 

"It's not her." She says, flicking through the book in front. Startled into action by the need to distract the clenching feeling in her gut. She should've stayed. "Has there been anyone new? Students or locals or-" 

"Are you asking if she's dating?" 

Penelope scoffs, taking a moment to frown up at MG. "Of course I'm not, MG. There are more important things right now." She is being serious, but her voice wavers like she's not so sure. "If it's been going on for a while then whoever caused this must be hanging around." 

"Oh," he shakes his head. "Nah, she's been really distant. She's just been keeping herself to herself. Long walks alone, reading in the corner, stuff like that. I just thought she was still down from the break up with-" 

MG looks like he's tripped up and come face first with a ticking bomb. The breath he takes is long and shaky. After all the counselling sessions she was forced to endure at this school, she thinks this is her biggest achievement. Penelope grips the sides of her chair to not throw the whole table at Milton Greasley. She suddenly remembers why she harbors a dislike for everyone at this school. 

Her smile is purely predatory. "Who?" 

\-- 

Smashing Landon Kirby into the nearest wall feels like a small victory. The breath that rushes out from his lungs deflates his body until he's a quivering mess against the hard wood. 

"Penelope." Hope warns, always hovering nearby. An irritating fly that is a constant buzz of vermin. Somewhere behind her she can hear MG come skidding to a stop and apologizing profusely. 

"What did you do to Josie?" Penelope hisses, an arm flat against Landon's neck. She thinks he'd struggle to talk even if she wanted an answer. Which she doesn't. Hearing him say Josie's name in any capacity would end this version of his life. 

Landon, to his credit, tries to provide answers through the choking. Wheezes a mix of "it's not" and "I didn't", before she presses harder. 

"I would kill you if I didn't have to watch your boneless body come back to life." 

"Penelope," Hope tries again, finally stepping into her eye-line. "What's this about?" 

She allows her eyes to drift from the mess in front and glares at Hope. "Last I heard your little boyfriend was trying to slither his way into Josie's pants." She says it with venom, but Hope barely flinches. Penelope turns her attention back to Landon, watches his head back away and hit the wall again. "Now he's standing back and watching the consequences."

Hope persists. "Landon hasn't done anything." 

Landon hums in agreement, smiling across at Hope. The whole interaction makes her sick and she steps away and releases her victim. Hope comes to his rescue and stands beside him. "Firstly," she says, pointing between them. "Stop looking at each other like that, it's disgusting. And second, why did you two feel the need to drag Josie into this-" she waves her finger around their merging forms again, "gross thing." 

"It wasn't like that." Landon says, and just the sound of his voice makes her step forward again. She controls her urges and retreats before she actually causes him to lose another one of his unlimited lives. "It's complicated." 

She rolls her eyes and raises her brow. "Humor me." 

\-- 

She doesn't feel humored at all. In fact the whole story of everyone forgetting poor Hope and love being found again bores Penelope to her core. She leaves them all with the hope of never having to interact with them again, and definitely never thinking about Landon with- 

"Josie." She says. The name sounds different now that she's saying it to the girl in question. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" 

Josie looks small, holding her arms close to her body and every step a centimeter apart. She looks to the seat opposite Penelope, a whole table apart but still suffocatingly close. Penelope wishes they were closer. 

After what feels like a decade, Josie decides to sit. "So you're back." She says. "For good?" 

Penelope can't tell if it sounds hopeful or disappointed. She shrugs. "For a while." 

Josie's face flickers in and out of emotions, Penelope waits patiently to see what wins. It still isn't clear when she asks, "come to watch the world burn?" Anger, possibly. Betrayed and broken, Josie rubs her forehead and looks to the surface below. 

"Ouch," Penelope doesn't sound hurt, tries to keep her voice light and friendly. "I thought we were on good terms when I left." 

"We were." She says, shaking her head and looking up. The shrug makes her whole body slump, defeated. "Are. We are on good terms. I'm just... it's confusing." 

Josie looks straight at Penelope, eyes still shimmering wet and mouth turned down. "I know," Penelope says, reaching across to touch Josie's hand gripping at the table edge. "It's fine."

Her fingers are cold, a stark difference from when they were spinning fire in the forest. The whole library could be empty for all Penelope would notice. The only table occupied, the only voices between the shelves and artifacts locked in the corners. They could be the only people left in the school. 

They're not though. Josie pulls her hand away and Penelope is jolted back to reality, is all too aware of the prying eyes and hushed hearsay. Josie appears to notice the same, her face forms a frown when she speaks. "Why are you back, Penelope?" 

She pretends not to flinch at the sound of her name from Josie's lips. She's not sure how to explain without sounding desperate. "I wanted to help." 

Penelope doesn't think it's wildly out of character, wanting to help save Josie Saltzman. She used to wonder if it was her whole purpose in life, a curse to save the only person who would rather save everyone else. 

Josie hesitates under the attention, shuffles on her seat until she's looking at the books Penelope has scattered across the table. Her eyes are simmering and sad, but her mouth tries to curve into a quivering smile. "You're here to help me?" She sounds surprised with a warmness Penelope thought was lost when directed at her. "That's-" 

"Unnecessary." Lizzie spits, appearing from the stacks. Penelope forgot how much she hated this girl, her only successful magic power is to cause misery in every room she enters. "Now flee, evil one." 

"I think we'll all be fleeing with the smell you've just bought in." Penelope sneers, smirking as Lizzie discreetly sniffs a little deeper. "Didn't anyone teach you to wash, Lizzie?" 

"Funny." She says, dismissing Penelope and placing a hand on Josie's shoulder. "Mom's coming home tonight, she wants to know you're okay."

For a brief moment, the smile on Josie's face seems genuine. She stands, scraping the chair across the floorboards and dislodging Lizzie's hand. "I should get ready." She takes a step away before turning back, smiling again at Penelope with something like curiosity. "I'll see you around?"

"Definitely." 

Lizzie grunts in disgust and starts to follow her sister. As soon as Josie is out of earshot, Penelope sits a little higher and takes aim. 

"It's a shame your mom only comes home when Josie's in trouble." She says, watches Lizzie pause with her back to Penelope. "I guess your parents really do have a favorite." 

Lizzie sticks her middle finger in the air and continues on. 

\-- 

Caroline Forbes returns for barely 24 hours. 

She pauses at the door, holding Josie tightly to her side and looking out to the school grounds and beyond. "Well, you always did love your fire." She says it with nothing but affection and Josie smiles into her mother's shoulder and squeezes tighter. 

Penelope watches on from the welcome room, flicking through pages of the book she's holding and trying not to look obvious. 

Lizzie and Josie bustle around with Caroline's bags whilst still trying to keep the contact, holding on as if to stop her from flying away again. Lizzie is talking a mile a minute, pulling them all deeper into the school. Josie laughs at something, glancing up to Caroline and back to Lizzie, and Penelope strains her head to hear it. Leans further forward when she hears it again. 

"You love her." 

She hears it from behind, only then realizing she's smiling. Her lips fall and twist until her expression is one of disgust. She scoffs and is ready to reel off denial when she turns to see Hope, grinning wide and blinking slow. 

Instead of offering an answer to her comment, Penelope instead huffs and looks back to the empty space the happy family have vacated. "You're always buzzing around." She says. "Fly off, Tribrid." 

Penelope doesn't wait to see if Hope leaves, she takes her own exit and turns in the opposite direction. 

\-- 

She fits back into the school quickly. 

Her flock of witches fly by fast and she's surrounded again by the incessant chatter of school girl gossip. She tunes out instantly and hears only flashes of everything she's missed. 

Penelope thinks of Belgium and the cold. Thinks of the dark and of the fire, the burnt bark and the flattened forest. 

At the back of the dining room, she watches Hope and Landon pick at each other's plates and wonders when PDA became a Mikaelson trait. Rafael slides onto the same table, shoveling food into his face instantly and nodding along to whatever their topic of the day is. She's about to look away when she spots MG pulling a chair up and settling in. 

They look like chaos between the ordered mess. An odd collective. 

She stands suddenly, watches as the swarm of girls do the same without hesitating. 

"You can stay." She says, pushing her chair back. "Finish your meal." 

She means it as a suggestion. Anyone would think she has the power to compel with the way they all dig in. 

"How chummy." Penelope sings, swaying to a stop at the head of the misfit table. "One of every kind. So inclusive." 

Landon puts down his fork but doesn't look overly concerned. Perhaps Penelope is losing her touch, then again Rafael is choking on his pizza with wide eyes and panic painting his cheeks. 

Hope is the one to speak, smiling with a mix of kindness and concern. "What do you want, Penelope?" 

"Oh nothing," she says, resting her hand against the tabletop and watching as Rafael follows the movement with a worried eye. "Just wondering if you'd found anything useful. For the big Josie is the Dark Lord thing."

"A few things." Landon nods, moving his fork around with his index finger. 

"I think we're getting closer to understanding it." Hope says, distracted whilst she watches the scrape of Landon's fork across the wood. Her hand falls to his, stopping the movement but earning her a dopey smile. Penelope's nose crinkles in disgust without thinking. "We'll do more research tomorrow. You can join if you want?" 

Penelope tries not to look horrified. 

"No thanks." 

\--

She does join, but it's not out of want. 

The worst thing about it all is that Hope doesn't even look surprised when she walks into the library, sliding an open book across and smiling against Penelope's scowl. 

It's been nearly an hour of silence when Hope closes the book in front and says, "well it's definitely not possession." 

Penelope barely looks up, waiting for an explanation. When it doesn't come, she sits back and raises her brows. "Go on." 

"Possession would usually mean someone is taking over the body, placing themselves inside and being in control. That's not what's happening with Josie. It's her, just a darker version."

"So what does that mean?" 

"I'm not sure yet." Hope says, grabbing for another book. "But I'm going to find out." 

Penelope admires her determination, she herself doesn't have a great attention span and she lasts another ten minutes in the library before wandering off to find a snack. She's on a straight path to the kitchen when she spots Josie standing at the top of the stairs in the main hall. Her face is blank and she stares across at the empty room. 

"Are you seeing something I'm not?" Penelope asks, skipping up behind her. 

Josie jolts from whatever world she was in and turns to face Penelope. She doesn't seem to acknowledge the question, folds her arms and blinks across with barely any emotion showing. "Mom left." 

Penelope nods, already aware. "Sorry." 

"Are you?" Josie says it as if she already knows the answer. It's not a question at all. "Last I checked, that was something you did as well." 

This is a Josie she knows, hurt and lashing out, but there's a fire that teeters on the edge of an explosion. A hurricane waiting to happen. Penelope shrugs, decides to meet fire with fire. 

"Well," she purses her lips into a pout. "Perhaps you should call me a trendsetter." 

Penelope isn't sure what reaction she wanted, but Josie delivers none. With icy eyes and a cold set mouth, Penelope thinks Josie looks beautiful. Her cheeks look cold and Penelope wonders if they're still warm to the touch. If her neck still curves into kisses and nails still scrape. 

"I don't need saving from myself, Penelope." Josie says. "It's everyone else I need to worry about." 

She shakes her head. "I just want to help." 

"Save me from the disappointment. If you want to help you should just leave." Josie's eyebrow raises, her lips follow and curve into a surly smile. "Oh wait," she says. "You already did that." 

Penelope is skilled enough to school her face of any emotion. She tilts her head, purses her lips and nods. "Wow, Jojo. Straight out of your sister's mouth." 

This seems to flare something in Josie, her arms unfold and swing at her sides in a rigid motion. Her fists sway clenched and angry. "I'm not my sister." 

Penelope can't help it, her breath blows fast and heart beats faster. Getting any reaction from Josie is thrilling, Penelope wants to stretch the moment out and store away every movement in her face. 

"Really?" She asks. "Because rumor has it you stepped out of her shadow as a carbon copy. It's not what I wanted for you at all." 

Josie's arm reaches out and grabs the banister, her eyes aflame. "What you wanted?" Josie scoffs, her hand opening with a simmering glow. "Everything about me is based on what you all wanted. I'm molded through and through. Has anyone ever thought about what I wanted?" 

Penelope watches as the glow in the pit of her palm flares and falters in a spinning cycle. Hot and cold. Light and dark. "And what do you want, Josie?" 

"I could be the most powerful witch of our time." She says, deadly serious. "You underestimate me-" 

"I don't." 

"I could win the merge and create my own coven if I wanted. You all think Lizzie would win, that I'm the weak twin only good as an accessory. But you're wrong, all of you. You've never really understood me." Josie looks across, her face falls from thunder to rain. Her hand closes cold and arm retreats from the banister. Josie watches her own arm as the magic from the wood fizzles out. When she looks back at Penelope, she just looks lost. "I could destroy you so easily." 

Penelope steps closer, stops when Josie flinches and crawls a little deeper inside herself. "What's happening to you?" 

Josie opens her mouth but nothing comes out, her sigh is heavy and hopeless. "None of you get it." She finally says, standing for several seconds before she turns to walk away. 

Before she reaches the door, Penelope shouts, "Jojo." 

Josie stops, half turns her head to look. 

"You can destroy me anytime you like." 

There's a small smile that wavers across her lips, it lasts seconds but Penelope files it away for forever. 

\-- 

Penelope dreams of soft skin against her fingers. 

The pad of her thumb paves paths along the curve of Josie's stomach, pressing down at every squirm and savoring the moment. The darkness is webbing out around them, but they're pressing into the mattress and pulling at the sheets. 

They're safe beneath the blankets and the lazy lamplight bloom. 

The dusk creeps in and her world blinks black. 

\-- 

Hope comes up with only one suggestion for the whole of the next day. 

"I think she's been using dark magic." 

Lizzie is disgusted, yells for five minutes straight before throwing several books against the shelves adjacent. "I know my sister." She says, high-pitched and hesitant. Out of breath from the tiring task of throwing tantrums. "And she wouldn't use dark magic." 

Penelope and Hope stay silent. 

It's a lie and everyone present knows it. 

\-- 

Sometimes, Josie disappears for hours. 

Penelope pretends she isn't keeping tabs, but her eyes and ears have always been trained in the art of Josie. 

She finds her on the school playing fields, lying on her back and watching the sky above. Wordlessly, Penelope bends and joins her. It's still light out but the twilight is looming. Josie has sticks in her hair and dirt at her knees.

"When I was six I memorized every constellation in the sky." Josie says, wistful and longing. "I'd spell them in front of me and wish myself there whenever my family were fighting." 

Swallowed in the sky, Josie looks peaceful and back in the light. 

"I'd do the same if I had Lizzie as a sister." Penelope says, smiling. 

Josie rolls her eyes but returns the smile all the same. "You know, this field used to be used for camping." She murmurs, looking back to the stars. "Dad used to put up a tent and let me and Lizzie sleep out here."

Penelope makes a small sound of acknowledgement, she'd follow Josie's eye-line to the stars but her face looks calm and content and Penelope can't look away. It's barely a whisper when Penelope speaks. "Sacred ground." 

Josie hums and nods, pulling her hair across the grass with the movement. "I had my first bonfire here. My first proper party with alcohol and dancing." Josie laughs and drags her eyes to Penelope. "My first kiss." 

"Josie Saltzman," she gasps, eyebrows curving and smile menacing. "How unruly." 

The sparkle in Josie's eyes remains as she stares across, scanning along Penelope's face as if taking it in all over again. "Has there been anyone?" She asks, cheeks tinting pink. "I mean, in Belgium was there someone?" 

"Are you asking if I've been dating?" Penelope can't dampen the grin growing along her face. 

Josie turns away, face blooming red. "No." 

"What about you, Jojo?" Penelope's already halfway through the question before she regrets the direction. "Have you been holding out for my return?" 

Penelope already knows the answer, can see it running through Josie's head as her lips drop and cheeks run cold. "There was someone." She says, it's sad and Penelope can't decide if it's loss or regret that weaves into her words. "It was nothing, really." 

With fire burning steady in her gut and a jealousy she's become accustomed to, Penelope tries not to sound judgmental when she mumbles aloud, "Birdboy?" 

Josie looks across suddenly. She studies Penelope's face before deciding to nod in confirmation. She doesn't need to ask where the information came from, the school is an overfilling pot of gossip constantly cooking at top heat. 

"His loss." Penelope says, before Josie feels the need to justify. 

She doesn't get a reply until several long minutes pass and the first few stars start to burn bright. 

"The only real relationship I've ever had was with you." Josie says, voice soft and swirling into the night. "When we were together, I felt like the only girl in the world." 

It's getting dark and cold, but Penelope feels warm against the fresh cut grass and burgeoning belonging. 

Josie looks at her, offers a sad smile before looking back to the constellations above. "And when you broke up with me, I felt like the only person in the whole world."

Always so alone and swimming hard against the current, Penelope can understand how Josie was swept away. 

\-- 

Josie fluctuates between the good and the bad, the light and the dark. She's the blinding sun and the crux of midnight. 

It's late afternoon when Penelope stumbles into the kitchen to find a storm raging inside. Glass shards scattered across the floor, plates smashed and cutlery twisted out of shape. Josie stands in the middle of the room, hair blowing back and palms pushing forwards. If Penelope didn't know better, she could believe Josie was in her element. 

Against the far wall, held high above the ground and gasping for breath, are three first years scrambling for purchase against the snapped shelves.

Josie smiles with the twist of her hand, one the boys screams out and his arm is definitely not meant to bend like that. Penelope steps in and reaches out her own arm, chanting the first disarming spell that comes to mind. She's nothing against the power of Josie, and Penelope stumbles against her words the moment Josie finds her in the doorway and smirks. 

Always only a breath away from trouble, resident hero Hope steps to her side and wastes no time in joining Penelope's chorus. After several seconds and a few more cries from the wall, Josie's hands go limp and fall to her side. With that, the bodies drop and smash to the ground. 

While Hope takes the boys, Penelope runs on instinct and takes Josie. Her arm fills across Josie's waist and she pulls them both to the floor before she can reprise her role as Dark Lord all over again. 

Josie is still breathing hard, jaw clenched and nostrils flared. There's a fire inside her burning so bright it lights the dark spaces so the evil can see the way. Penelope straddles her and pulls her hands up beside her head so she can keep tabs on any sudden movement. 

She settles in silence, waiting for the anger to subside and the Josie she knows to blink back. From somewhere behind, there's the sound of people running in, skidding out and Hope shouting orders. 

"They had it coming," Josie says, she sounds calm in the chaos. "They called me crazy." 

If this wasn't such a scary overreaction, Penelope would laugh. But the boys behind are still sniveling through their sobs and Penelope can feel the glass below scraping her skin. Josie is an explosion boiling on the brink of bedlam. 

Moments later, Lizzie stands above, sneers "get off my sister" and watches Penelope stand and trip away. This chaos coursing through Josie's veins is unsettling, but the calming contentment that follows is worse. 

\-- 

Hope eases her feet into the pool beside Penelope's. She watches the bubbles break away and bounce to the surface. 

She wonders, absently, how Hope is always exactly where she needs to be. 

"We should follow her." Hope says, after the silence has hung for several minutes. "She's always wandering off into the woods alone. Whatever is happening to her, my guess is it started there." 

Penelope nods, watching Josie stand firm in the storm with every blink. Replaying in the dark behind her eyelids. Again, again, again. She'd looked happy harboring the power of a hurricane. 

Hope's leg stretches from the water, the drops cascade down before she drops her leg and it's swallowed back whole. 

"Why are you trying to be so nice nowadays? You used to hate people." Penelope asks, looking across at Hope. "No offence," she adds but doesn't care much for any offence caused.

Hope shrugs, appears to think for a few seconds. "I guess being forgotten and seeing everything I lost made me appreciate it all a little more." 

Penelope nods. After the break up, Josie had blanked her for weeks before deciding to offer her the hate and hostility she became used to. She'd been so relieved to finally be recognized again, Penelope hadn't realized she'd been holding her breath all along. 

"It must've been lonely." Penelope says. "Being stuck in that slime."

Hope shrugs. "It's lonely everywhere if you let it be."

\-- 

She's in the guest room getting changed for bed when the door opens. 

"Oh God, I didn't-" Josie stutters against her words and turns to face the door. Penelope can feel the heat swallowing Josie's cheeks from across the room. "I'm sorry, I should've knocked." 

"No bother, Jojo." Penelope can't keep the smile from her voice. "You've seen it all before, right?" 

Josie doesn't answer that question verbally, but her hands press against her face and she waits until Penelope gives her the go ahead to turn back around. She's brave enough to scrape her eyes up Penelope's legs, her waist and chest and finally to her grinning face. Penelope wasn't aware Josie could turn so crimson. 

"Sorry," Josie says, but she doesn't sound it. Her eyes can barely steady on Penelope's face, darting away and back to the body in front. "I just came to say thank you." 

Penelope steps forward, this bashful Josie unable to hide the feelings she's forever fighting has always been one of her favorites. "Is that so?" She asks, stepping forward deliberately. 

Josie nods, breathing in and bringing her hands to her front to fidget. "Yeah," she says, it's weak and she steps back to keep a distance between them. More firmly, "yes. For stopping me earlier. It was about to get out of hand." 

She can't help the small laugh that escapes her lips. "Pretty sure it was already out of hand." 

Josie shrugs, no regret evident in her behavior. Perhaps that should be more worrying than her actual actions. "Maybe." 

"So how are you going to thank me?" Penelope asks, feet still moving closer and smiling as Josie's cheeks continue to bloom. She drags her eyes along Josie's bed clothes, her washed out shorts and top too old to cover her abdomen properly. She used to spend hours tracing fingers along those fabrics until she found skin. 

Josie shakes her head, her breathing heavy and warm against Penelope's cheek. They're closer than they've been since her return. It's suffocatingly close, but Penelope hasn't inhaled so deep in her life. Having just a second of her Josie back is intoxicating. 

"I just," Josie tries, scanning Penelope's face. "I said thank you." 

"Oh." Penelope raises her eyebrow, feigns disappointment. She's selfish to the core and ambition bleeds through every choice she makes, but Josie has always been her exception. She wants Josie because she wants her, it's simple and stiflingly complicated. "Come here." She whispers and watches as Josie blinks slow with her eyes dropping down to the lips still open. 

Josie takes the small step closer and Penelope closes what little space is left between them, reaching behind for Josie's neck and pulling her into a desperate kiss. It feels like waking up from a long sleep, breathing air after being submerged for so long. Penelope pulls her tighter and hums as Josie's hands find her waist. 

Josie is stumbling forward, squeezing at Penelope's sides as she turns the kiss deep and slow. Penelope hits the end of the bed frame and smiles into Josie's lips as her fingers fumble beneath her top. She wants to pull away, see Josie flushed and beautiful, her swollen mouth and eager eyes. She's scared it will break the magic and jolt sense into the room, so she clings tighter and bites at Josie's bottom lip. 

"Oh God," Josie hums into her, pressing harder and swallowing the sounds Penelope makes. The kiss is aching, deep and dangerous and only escalating. Penelope feels the air in her lungs empty, her energy is slowly subsiding and she feels weak against the wrath of Josie's want.

It's too much, Penelope tries to pull away but can't. "Jojo," she mumbles, mouth barely moving against Josie's bite. The kiss feels cold but there's a small glow where their mouth's meet. Penelope can feel something drain out of her as Josie continues to hold her close. 

With every inch of strength she has, Penelope pushes her hands against Josie's shoulders until she's dislodged and stumbling back. Penelope bends to breathe, sucking in deep and desperate, trying to fill her lungs to full capacity. 

Josie appears equally breathless, wiping her mouth and staring across with eyes that color darker than usual. "Sorry," she pants, "I don't know what that was." 

When she's sure she's not about to collapse, Penelope stands up firmer. Just to get a little dignity back. "Were you siphoning from me?" 

"No," she shakes her head but she doesn't seem sure. "I don't know." 

It's usually a warm and welcoming feeling when Josie siphons from her. This felt like the opposite. 

"I should go." Josie says, stepping back, back, back. She hits the door and stumbles. "Sorry." 

The door slams behind her and Penelope folds into a ball beside the bed post, breathing hard and waiting for the sickness to pass. 

\-- 

They don't talk about it. 

Josie spends the next few days at Alaric's side under strict instructions. After breaking several bones in the boys bodies, she's lucky she wasn't locked in the basement cell. 

Penelope skips class, she hasn't returned to the school to learn and she makes no effort fueling the pretense. Hope tells her to bide her time until Alaric turns his back and Josie finally has a little freedom to escape. 

They're banking on her running to the woods and they're planning to follow. 

She's getting bored of waiting, unconsciously ripping out page by page destroying book by book, until an annoying voice interrupts her. 

"Don't take your frustration out on my dad's library." Lizzie says, standing over the table. She only gives Penelope a brief glance before smiling across at Hope. "He's going to revoke the dad-arrest tonight so it'll be mission go-go-go tomorrow." 

"No." Penelope vigorously shakes her head, stares pleadingly at Hope. "Absolutely not. She is not coming with us." 

Lizzie's constant frown deepens. "Yes, I am." She tries for pleading too, nodding at Hope. "I am, right Hope?" 

Hope looks as if she's caught, glancing to the devil on her right shoulder to the devil on her left. Opening her mouth and closing it back tight. 

"She ruins everything." 

"What? No that's- She's the person that ruined Josie to begin with." 

Penelope scoffs, "and there it is. Maybe if you stopped making her feel like she was ruined all the time-" 

"Okay, you know that's not what I-" 

"Stop." Hope stands, finger pointed at both of them. "God, you're both children." Penelope and Lizzie fall silent, still glaring at each other. "Lizzie, you can come, obviously." Before Penelope can open her mouth, Hope interjects. "We need all the help we can get." 

It's true, and that knowledge is the only thing that stops her from pulling a tantrum to match one of Lizzie Saltzman's.

\-- 

The following evening is, as Lizzie had so intelligently put it, mission go-go-go. 

It's dark outside when Josie finally escapes the school grounds, looking around before slipping out the front door. Lizzie is dressed all in khaki with green and brown stripes across her cheeks. It's almost enough to call the whole thing off. 

Hope leads, opening the door and holding it for the others to step through. Josie has disappeared into the darkness by the time they get down the stairs towards the open gates. Penelope starts to run so she doesn't lose track completely, can hear the other two start to do the same. 

She's barely reached the gates when she smashes into a brick wall face first. She's thrown back, hits the ground and skids to a stop several feet in front of the gates. Her whole body is in pain but she rolls over to see the glimmering shine of a shield spell canvasing across the school entrance. 

She looks around, sees Hope sprawled across the floor beside her and can't find Lizzie until she looks beyond the school gates. 

Floating two feet off the ground, Lizzie's body is frozen with her lips pressed shut and silenced. Penelope would be glad for it if it wasn't for the girl holding her in position. Josie stands beside her, staring through the gates as Penelope and Hope scramble from the floor and walk closer. She looks solid and sombre, eyes shaded a little darker than usual. 

Penelope presses her palm to the shield, slowly starting to disappear until she disturbs the magic once again. "What are you doing, Josie?" 

"Let us through." Hope says, trying to spell away the magic. Receiving nothing but resistance. 

Josie frowns, looks from her sister to the two girls prodding her shield. "I don't think I will, Hope. I only need Lizzie for now." 

They both shout in unison, "let her go" and "put her down". Hope says it again, louder, "let her go, now." 

"Or what?" Josie feigns fear, her lips trembling and eyes growing wide. "What will you do? Follow me some more?" 

"Jojo." 

"Don't try that either. I'm not soft anymore, and that name does nothing."

Penelope hears stones behind, can see Josie avert her eyes to watch someone new approach. "Josette." She hears Alaric call and can see that that name causes an instant reaction. Josie's face seems to crumble slightly, her arm held high stumbles but straightens quickly to keep Lizzie in place. 

"Josette." Josie repeats. "After Mom, right? Everyone always said I'm exactly like her. The spitting image. So sweet, so caring." 

Alaric comes to stand closer and stops inches from the shield. "You take after her." 

"Do I?" Josie asks, glancing at Lizzie before looking back to her dad. "Or is that just what you're all praying for?" 

He looks confused, and Penelope is starting to think she should've listened all the times Josie talked about her complicated family history. 

Alaric asks, "what? I don't-" 

"How do you know I don't take after my uncle?" Josie smiles as Alaric's face drops. "He could only siphon like us, but he was the most powerful witch our coven ever knew."

"How do you know about him?" Alaric's voice is shaky. 

"Malachai Parker?" Josie's voice is steely. "He killed our family. Our coven. You don't think we should've known about him? Or were you too afraid we would follow in is footsteps?" 

They watch silently as she flexes her fingers, looks at Lizzie as if she's an animal hung up for slaughter. 

"All over this stupid merge." Josie shakes her head, disgusted. "All of this stupid waiting, it's all for nothing. The merge is going to happen eventually, so why not just do it now? I would win in seconds. Get it over and done with." She looks to Lizzie, her smile slightly sympathetic. "You've always thought you were so much better than me. I should've warned you." 

Penelope hits the shield again, calling out as she does so. "This isn't you, Josie."

She's halfway through a scoff towards Penelope when Josie winces in pain, her body tensing slightly as she holds her stomach with her free hand. She turns back to Lizzie, an evil smirk on her face. "Don't try, Lizzie." She says. "You can't hurt me." 

"Josette Saltzman." Alaric shouts. "You put your sister down immediately." 

Josie looks menacing when she looks back. "Or what?" 

"Or you'll kill her." 

For something she's been threatening to readily, the thought of it actually happening seems to disarm Josie completely.

Her face twists with emotion, turning away from Alaric's voice and back to the girl she has extended in the air. Her open palm shakes and her fingers start to falter and fall. Eventually Josie's arm slumps limp and her body folds, Lizzie falls from the spell and crashes to the earth, gasping for air and clarity. The shield glistens before it's gone, and Alaric wastes no time in running through the gates to pick Lizzie from the dirt below. 

Penelope watches straight ahead, sees Josie's entire being deflate from the magic. Her eyes roll back and Penelope jumps forward just in time to stop her from hitting the ground. 

\--

This time her actions do earn her cell time. 

"It's for your own good," Alaric insists, "whilst we figure out how to stop you from hurting anybody else." 

Lizzie is milking the attention, walks around with bare legs to show the grazes from her fall. MG takes it upon himself to be an unwanted bodyguard, following her every move and stroking her hair when she relives the terrifying ordeal in front of a new crowd. 

The girls flock to Penelope. In true gossip girl form, they ask her questions to feed their rumor mill and pout when she just shrugs. She walks away from Lizzie's poor attempts to gain sympathy and holds her hand in the air when the witches try to follow. 

She almost stops when she passes Alaric, looking pained as he watches Lizzie's display. He's talking to Hope in a low murmur but she can still make out what he's saying. "We need to stop her, Hope. Before she becomes him."

Penelope hesitates for only a second before continuing on. 

\-- 

There's a constant flow of visitors sitting in the basement beside Josie. She half thinks to suggest starting a rota, but she wouldn't be able to handle seeing some of the names requesting time, Landon wouldn't stand a chance. Rafael would be a close call. 

She stumbles down and sees a different person every few hours. Lizzie hugs Josie through the bars, MG is throwing a ball through the cracks, Rafael is whispering some godawful poetry and even Kaleb stops by to try a few jokes. Hope and Landon visit together and have enough decency to not be touching. Penelope never stays long, slips back up the stairs and waits. Alaric is the only person she sees allowed into the cage, the keys kept pushed into his trouser pocket. 

Penelope skips dinner, descends to the basement and is relieved when no one is perched in front of the metal bars. It looks like Josie is asleep on the bed, curled into a ball and facing away, so Penelope takes a seat on the floor and waits. 

She has her eyes closed, breathing slowly and hating how much safer she feels being in the same room as Josie, when she hears her. 

"I was wondering when you would stay." Josie says. Penelope opens her eyes to see her sitting opposite, legs crossed against the floor and forehead resting against the cage. "You've come a million times." 

She grins, a little surprised. "You saw me?" 

"I always see you." 

Penelope rolls her eyes. "You're the most popular girl in the school, by the looks of it." 

Josie offers a sad smile. "I'm not doing this to be noticed." She says. "I didn't want any of this to happen." 

She's silent for a while. Josie has always had this need to fill the gaps. Penelope has learnt if you give her the time to speak, she will offer more than she sometimes intends. Josie was always an open book to Penelope, it just took time to read the pages. Nowadays the words are written in invisible ink. They sit in comfortable silence for several minutes before anyone speaks again.

"I was so lonely." Josie rests her hand open against her knee and Penelope reaches through the bars to hold on. When she doesn't immediately pull away, she allows her thumb to rub circles against Josie's wrist. "I just wanted to feel wanted for once. Like someone's first choice instead of a consolation prize." 

"You're anything but a consolation prize." 

Josie doesn't hear it. "Mum left to find a cure and doesn't miss us enough to take breaks and visit. Dad busies himself with this school and spends his only spare time training Hope. Raf and MG chose Lizzie. Landon only wanted me whilst Hope was gone, as soon as he remembered her it was like I never existed. And Lizzie," she shakes her head, shrugs. "Lizzie has always chosen herself." 

"I wanted you." Penelope tries, pushes forward with daring. "Want you." 

It doesn't register, or if it does Josie doesn't believe it. "You want to irritate Lizzie and cause chaos." 

Penelope shakes her head, squeezes Josie's hand a little tighter. "I wanted you to be my girlfriend." She says. "I wanted you to win the honor council and Miss Mystic Falls. I wanted you to be the best you could be, it was the only reason I broke up with you. The only reason why I left." 

"But you did leave." Josie says, her eyes look sad. "And I was alone again." 

Penelope doesn't know what to say to that. She doesn't really have a defense, she did leave Josie alone. In Belgium, she worried no one was really around to have Josie's back, to pull her from the shadows and people she hides in. 

"I just wanted a friend." Josie purses her lips, looking up to stare at Penelope. "Then he turned up." 

The frown that furrows between her brows happens on instinct. Penelope feels something like sick start to churn in her gut. "Who?" 

"He was interested in my life. He wanted to know about the merge and the magic I was learning, about the little bit of dark magic I tried a while ago." Josie swallows, guilt rolling down her throat. "He said he would teach me things, I didn't know it was dark magic at first. I just wanted to be a part of something." 

"Jojo," Penelope says, as calm as she can muster. "Who are you talking about?" 

"I didn't mean for this to happen." She says, her eyes are sad and lips trembling. "But he's started something inside of me. He makes me so powerful, sees this thing in me no one has ever seen before. It's like-"

Josie doesn't finish her sentence. The cage door flies open, cracking against the brick wall and rattling the bars enveloping Josie inside. She looks at the gate and back to Penelope before her legs are pulling out from beneath her, dragging her across the floor, her twisting around the doorway feet first. Penelope tries to grab hold of her whilst she passes but she's being pulled too fast and Penelope launches up and after her. Her body is being hauled through the halls, down the corridors and towards the exit. 

Penelope spots Landon coming out from the dining room and screams at him to get Hope, to get anybody. 

"Josie," she's shouting, over and over and over, pushing through doors and tripping over stairs. She'd looked scared, as she was dragged away. Penelope feels a need balling in her stomach to protect her, to find her and keep her safe forever. 

She's sprinting through the school gates, out towards the woods and stopping still when she hits the flattened clearing. Destroyed by Josie's fire, as they all will be eventually. 

At the far end of the clearing, between collapsed trees and bark burnt brittle, Josie stands dirty and devastated. Her clothes are ripped and ruined and there are twigs hanging from her hair. 

She looks at Penelope and smiles. 

\-- 

"Jojo." 

The name rings aloud in her head. She remembers being here, on smoky soil and leftover leaves, looking out at the same girl looking similarly lost and forgotten. This is where Penelope found Josie on her return, and perhaps it's where she'll lose her again. 

Penelope looks around, can hear the sounds of people approaching behind her. "What just happened, Josie?" She asks, searching, searching, searching for answers. The steps slow and stop and Penelope can see figures either side of her but can't make out who they are without looking. 

"Well," a voice says from Josie's direction. It's a male's voice, young with age but deep with decay. "That was actually my doing. You shouldn't keep such talent locked away." 

From behind a tree to Josie's left, a man steps out and walks to stand beside her. So close they're touching. He looks of a similar age to herself, but the lines in his face suggest he's lived several years beyond them. Scruffy hair and straggly clothes, he's nothing special but for the dark glint in his eyes. 

"Who are you?" Alaric asks, voice deeper than usual. Penelope jolts at another voice and then looks around and sees she's surrounded by a number of people. Lizzie, Hope, MG, Rafael, Landon and even Jed and Kaleb stand somewhere in the distance. She'll allow Landon credit for actually doing as she had asked. 

The man next to Josie laughs. "My name is Adie, but if you're asking who I am," he says, placing a hand on Josie's shoulder. Penelope flinches and forces herself not to fly forward. Josie looks unfazed, her features appearing only slightly interested in the whole interaction. "I'm a family friend, you could say." 

"I wouldn't say anything of the sort." Alaric replies. 

Adie feigns hurt. "Oh now, Ric. Malachai would hate to hear you speak so harshly of me." He says, and Alaric visibly freezes. "Why can't we all be friends?" 

Alaric's voice is hoarse when he speaks. "How do you know Kai?" 

Standing adjacent from them all, miles apart but feet in distance, the man grows bigger with every unsettled breath they all release. "I've been forced to live a well traveled life and visited many great prison worlds. I happened to meet him in one very lonely world where we had nothing to do but talk about his loving family." He squeezes Josie's shoulder and grins down at her. "Some of us poor witches have never been understood." 

Lizzie seems to understand what he's implying and calls from somewhere to Penelope's right. "We understand Josie. Way better than you ever could." 

"Is that so, Elizabeth?" He turns his head to stare at Lizzie, a face of thunder. "I've heard so much about you." 

Lizzie flinches, but she turns her attention to Josie instead. "Josie, ignore that overgrown slug. We can help you, we can fix this." 

Adie laughs again, long and evil. "Josie doesn't need fixing. Do you?" He looks to Josie and she opens her mouth but nothing comes out. She's staring around with an unreadable expression, she can't quite decide to stay or run. If she's on the wrong side of this or the right. "She's the most powerful she has ever been. So much more powerful than any of you, and suddenly you want to fix her. To shape her again and push her back into her shadow." 

"That's not true." Hope says, strong and stern but aching. 

"No?" He asks. "I've been watching you all for a long time. Watching you dismiss and overlook her. She'd pushed her potential so far down, only the darkest of magic could bring it back up." 

"Josie, please." Penelope begs, she tries to step forward but her feet won't carry. Josie runs her eyes along the length of Penelope's face, but she still says nothing. Her feet are dead weight and Penelope's stuck in the soil beneath her. "I can't-" 

"No need to try, darling Penelope." Adie says, waving a finger across the shield of people wrapping a ring around the pair. "You're all stuck for a while, so don't waste unnecessary energy. We'll be leaving now." 

Adie turns with a hand still resting against Josie's shoulder. There are calls from across the line but no voice is as important as Josie's. "I can't go with you." She says, turning to glance at her sister, her dad, Penelope. "I can't leave them." 

"Why not?" He asks. "They'll all leave you eventually, won't they? It's what they do best." 

Josie seems to contemplate this for a while, doesn't seem to listen when Penelope shouts, "he's manipulating you, Jojo. Don't believe a word he says." 

"Look how powerful you are after only weeks of knowing me. You've known them all your life and they just made you weak." Adie must see the spark flash in Josie's eyes, because Penelope sees it too. That fire that burns with an anger she never used to carry. A fire that sings of injustice and isolation. "Come with me, just for a while, and see what you could become." 

Penelope sees the moment the fire wins. Feels her body drop and crawl forward to pry what little of Josie she can find left on the body in front. Of course, she's frozen in place and still standing. She forgets she's surrounded and suddenly feels so alone between the surviving tree trunks and darkened sky. 

Out of breath and breathless, out of ammo and empty. She watches Josie's eyes soften as rain starts to scatter across the clearing. She stares at Penelope and Penelope stares back, and for several suffocating seconds she thinks she's won and the fire burning inside has washed away with the drops running down her cheeks. But Josie's smile is sad and she still looks like she belongs anywhere but here. 

"We'll see you soon." Adie says, an open palm swiping the air across the semi-circle of misfits. 

The magic seizes her immediately and her body slumps to the floor, eyes the last to close, ears the last to stop. Through padded lids, she watches Josie's mouth move and hears seconds later her weak apology. "I'm sorry." She says, whispered to no one, to everyone. 

Penelope feels fire in her gut before she feels nothing. 

\---


End file.
